Albuquerque-based Lovelace Health System has acquired Southwest Medical Associates, a physician practice that will retain its name, leadership and all 150 employees in the deal. No financial terms were disclosed, said a spokeswoman for Lovelace.

Effective immediately, the transaction starts a new physician model for Lovelace that will rely on a mix of employed, strategically aligned and community physicians.

The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission said Wednesday it has chosen a Lovelace Health Plan policy as the benchmark for health insurance policies to be sold on the state’s health insurance exchange under the federal Affordable Care Act.

The decision means all other insurers who want to sell policies on the exchange when it begins operating in 2014 must meet or exceed what Lovelace offers in its plan, the PRC said in a news release.